The World Didn't Implode
by Ally-Kamiya
Summary: The world didn't implode the day Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart saw each other for the first time in seven years.


**The World Didn't Implode**

By: Ally-Kamiya

Summary: The world didn't implode the day Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart saw each other for the first time in seven years.

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or any of the characters.

Smooches to ScarletDeva for reading it first.

Author's Notes: I suppose I've seen too many encounters lately where Kim and Tommy see each other and either: jump straight into bed, argue, ignore each other, or collapse into tears and romance at the mere sight of each other. Not that I'm not guilty of it myself – I happen to enjoy it. But this plot bunny jumped on me and won't let me go until I write it. Hope you enjoy!

It wasn't a surprise that they ran into each other. They had far too many mutual friends, a mutual hometown that shaped their lives, and many similar thoughts and activities. But one or the other had an obligation when the gang would try to get together, and their paths didn't cross.

So at Trini and Jason's wedding, when they saw each other for the first time in seven years, the rest of their friends held their breath. They eyed the pair with curiosity, caution, and a little bit of hope that their once-fearless leader and his damsel in distress would fall into each other's arms with professions of long-repressed love and run off to shag like bunnies.

Instead, all they got was a mutual, warm smile, and a brief yet friendly hug.

"Hi, Tommy."

"Kim." Another smile. "How've you been?"

Their former teammates looked around the room discreetly. No explosions, hell hadn't frozen over, and their friends weren't under any alien control. Just in case, though, Adam made a note to double-check the punch.

After chatting for a few minutes about their lives, Tommy and Kim went about their respective duties as Best Man and Maid of Honor – they fended off questions about the strange color scheme of the wedding, and why on Earth Trini had insisted on wearing yellow. They told stories about their best friends and gave speeches at the appropriate time, looking for all the world like they hadn't just seen the "freaking love of their freaking lives," as Rocky put it.

As they interacted when it was appropriate, and laughed about Trini and Jason's reluctance to admit their attraction until Zach locked them in Trini's bedroom with a month's worth of food and about ten years' worth of condoms, their friends got used to the change. So the world hadn't ended when Thomas Sean Oliver and Kimberly Anne Hart were in the same room together after seven years. That was good, right?

Aisha couldn't help but keep checking over her shoulder…just in case.

Three hours later, when the world _still_ hadn't ended and the party was dying down, Tommy and Kim found themselves out on the patio, finishing their drinks. It was then, when they were alone, that they reached a topic that their friends would later kick themselves for not eavesdropping on.

"How did it work out with that guy, anyway?"

Kimberly shrugged. "Our lives went in different directions. He went on to the Olympics, I didn't. I'm happier in LA now. How about you, Oliver? A wife and three munchkins I should start sending birthday cards to?"

He laughed, and it wasn't a bitter one. "Nope. Timing was never right. Someday, though…It'd be nice."

She smiled, glad that her heart doesn't beat fast at his words, that it doesn't clench with hope. She never should have listened to Trini, anyway. She and Tommy have a history, but they were friends long before that. They were never going to freak out at the sight of one another just because a relationship at the age of 16 had ended badly.

Tommy watched as her thoughts churned, and he knew what she was thinking. He'd gotten the same talk about how Kim was going to be there, how he should stay calm from Jason. What his best friend hadn't known was that there was no need to worry – Tommy hadn't been able to hold a grudge since the Turbo incident.

Still, he knew his friends were waiting for the world to implode or Zedd to show up and announce himself the Prom Queen.

"So you're in LA? I'm starting my PhD program there."

"Seriously? That's fantastic! I'll have to show you where to get the best Mexican food of your life when you're all settled in."

He grinned. "Sounds great."

It was at that moment Rocky and Zach burst through the doors, jumping over the fence into the field with an enraged Jason and Trini chasing after them. Catching something along the lines of "Cake – idiots – didn't even get a piece," Tommy and Kim decided it was in their duties to help chase the villains down.

It was then that Tommy was certain the world was completely normal – or as normal as things got for eleven people who'd saved the world countless times while going through puberty – and that the one friend who'd been missing from it was most definitely a friend again.

As he swerved to avoid trees and managed to tackle Rocky, he grinned. They were going to keep their rediscovered friendship going – and maybe, in five years, that little seed of hope could grow into something more.


End file.
